So in getting my darkroom operational again, I found some old developer in a box (the proverbial pole-barn). It's ancient and predates my last darkroom.

So the big question: do I develop 13 test rolls of film in HC-110 that expired in 2010 or Rodinal of similar vintage. All bottles are unopened. I really like HC-110, and Rodinal is well-nigh indestructible.

I've used both and both are long lasting. But if I was starting out I would buy either new and use it until I found a Rx that suits me. Fine tuning with unknowns is just too heart breaking. THEN after you have found a Rx you like try it with the old stuff. If you can't see the difference then you have a gift.

2010? I would not even consider it as expired. It is slightly aged as Spanish wine or lomography smuggled in 2010 from Italy film in Czech wine oak like buckets.

Gotta go with Ko.Fe. on this. Just developed a roll of 620 in HC-110 that expired in 2009, and it was originally opened back then. It's like dark brown honey, but still works fine. And I've got some Rodinal that's the shade of black coffee, and it still works great too.

^ I'm with Ko-Fe too on this one . I had some old Blazinol ( Rodinal in Canada ) and it was pretty much just black crystals on the bottom . Put the bottle in some really hot water and it turned into a black syrup . What if it didn't work just fine ! Peter

How does one work out the expiry date of HC-110? I have a couple of bottles here with no date I can see anywhere on them. I'm told they are quite old. I've been really pleased with their contents, pushing HP5+. I've also got a bottle of Agfa Rodinal that has never let me down, that might have something on the box or label, perhaps? I can check them, if anyone really wants me to. Of the two I tend to prefer HC-110 for most uses, but surely either of those products expired in 2010 should be just fine, if sealed, kept air free, and in the dark.
Cheers,
Brett

Another "just fine" here. I've used opened Rodinal from 10+ years back. Worked fine. My current HC-110 is almost 6 years old. Working fine. Those are the only two developers I feel confident about using old stuff. From experience.

Now, I would suggest storing these developers in a cool, dark location. But that's about it.

I've had no problems in using Rodinal the color of coffee and HC-110 that was a little lighter, maybe like chocolate milk.
I agree with all the above that a test roll would be a good idea, but other than that, go for it!

My bottle of HC-110 that expired in 2009 actually had the expiration date stamped on it. It was one of the old style short squat bottles. About two years ago the plastic of the bottle had gotten weak and cracked, causing the HC-110 to ooze out. Got an empty plastic Heinz mustard bottle, washed it out, and offloaded the remaining HC-110 into that. Now I've got a Heinz mustard bottle of dark brown honey, that still works great. The stuff seems to be indestructible.

I have stored both in factory sealed for many years beyond their expiration date. HC-110 does not even turn brown over a decade past expiration in factory sealed bottles (at least the 1l ones they sell in Europe).

Rodinal originally lasted eternally (Agfa once celebrated its centenary by using a 100 year old bottle from their archives, successfully). It ran into storage life problems right after Agfa switched from glass to brown plastics bottles (IIRC in the mid eigthies), but more recentish plastics bottled Agfa Rodinal (in the white bottles) seems to be air tight, all of mine was bought right after Agfa closed shop, and I have no issues. But YMMV where third party Rodinal remakes and their packaging are concerned - I have lost count of the variations...

Test for sure. My past experience is that Rodinal lasts many, many years without any detectable deterioration. Even when it has turned brown, it still works. Highly concentrated developers seem to do that. At the newspaper where I once worked we found a box with several glass bottles of unopened Edwal FG7 that was so old the labels were crumbling--stuff must have been stored away and forgotten for more than 20 years. I tested it and it was like new. A couple of us liked it so well we used it as our normal developer.

I'm getting low but I have some HC-110 that is opened & older than yours & it works fine. I had some Rodinal to crap out on me as it was near the bottom of the bottle & much was crystallized. My HC-110 has turned a dark orangy color & mine still works. At least the last roll I developed 2 months ago did.

I was developing 1990 Kodak 5231 which I shot in 2010 for a while and complaining how this film deteriorated. Turns out my developer was gone bad. With new batch the same film turned out just fine. Costed me some images I wish I did not lose. It's not worth it in my opinion.

BE AWARE! I ruined five films with aged Rodinal because I trusted this Internet wisdom everybody is repeating. So I found out the hard way that Rodinal (like al other developers) can go bad. If it fails, like in my case, you end up with almost blank negatives.

Since then I use fresh developer and when the Rodinal is dark brown I do a test. Hey, developer is cheap, why waste precious time and energy on 3 Dollars worth of old developer? Alas, amateurs...

BE AWARE! I ruined five films with aged Rodinal because I trusted this Internet wisdom everybody is repeating. So I found out the hard way that Rodinal (like al other developers) can go bad. If it fails, like in my case, you end up with almost blank negatives.

Since then I use fresh developer and when the Rodinal is dark brown I do a test. Hey, developer is cheap, why waste precious time and energy on 3 Dollars worth of old developer? Alas, amateurs...

Firstly is English your native tongue? Perhaps not. Go look up the definition of "amateur" because it's not necessarily as much of a pejorative as you might think—it can depend on context. Secondly, muffing five rolls of black and white because your developer was bad is a rather amateur thing to do. You'll have to work out the context I am using the term in, for yourself.

That is what I'm finding with my new bottle of HC110, I'm going to verify with a couple of my mates with unexpired bottles from different batches, alongside my old trusty bottle which expired 8 years ago.

I'll report back with the results, but if anyone has a lead on old HC110, hit me up as I'm going to start my stash of an ever-increasingly rare developer.

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